Thursday, January 24, 2008

Animal Applique Skirt

This bias A-line skirt is a nice linen/rayon blend that is really easy to sew. I've made several of this McCall's 2172 and I like it because it's a bit narrower at the hem than McCall's 2255.

This is the front.

My usual approach to things is to try to make whatever it is in the usual way; neat, clean- edged and perfect. No messy, untrained or unkempt look to the project at all.

However, this past year or two I have been trying my darndest to loosen up! This skirt is one of those projects. Instead of trying to applique these animals onto the skirt itself, I just slapped them on some gorgeous batik rectangles and zigzagged in a loose stitch setting.

This is the back of the skirt.

One pass around the unturned edges with an open zigzag is really enough to keep the applique in place. And, it takes a whole lot less time to get each motif done. Nice!

After I had a pile of animals sewn onto the four different batik prints, I just sewed them onto the skirt with a straight stitch. I didn't even hem the rectangles.

I am so proud of myself! I am letting these fabric squares ravel and wrinkle and just do what soft cotton fabric likes to do.And, boy oh boy, do I like this skirt?

Yes!

It looks almost as if a newbie made it and that is just what I was going for.sigh.

About Me

Remember these words of Maya Angelou: "Not everything you do is going to be a masterpiece, but you get art there and you try and sometimes it really happens. The other times you're just stretching your soul."